Issue #44 - Feedback is how we learn

I’m just putting the finishing touches on to a usability testing session evaluation that we ran at the weekend. With no idea how many users we would be able to test designs with, it was quite a challenge to identify which user journeys we wanted to test and whether users are new or returning customers.

Dare I say, these are good problems to have. We’re testing a coded prototype to find out whether this is a viable solution to a business problem. Every bit of feedback is useful, whether it is positive or negative.

How do you make best use of an opportunity to talk to users though? One video I’ve found this week to be particularly useful is from Danny Hearn, who, at DIBI conference, explained some of the methods he’s used at John Lewis. Pay particular attention to Learn cards and Test cards - something we used and found very helpful.

One from me! Usability testing is crucial to any user-centered design process. Putting a design together and getting opinions (other than your own) is vital. Here, I talk about a recent usability testing session we conducted over two days in the New Forest. Showing users a prototype and observing their experience has proved vital to our design process, correcting any assumptions we had or providing insight into areas we completely missed.

At any eCommerce company, it makes sense to improve close to the checkout. If the dropout rate can be reduced by even a few %, it can make massive gains. SaaScribe look at 10 of the most common payment processing challenges, as well as some of the ways they’re being addressed.

Data is vital to design, whether that be from user research to current usage data of a particular feature. Here, Jack Miller asks “What are the basic building blocks that any business should have in place to deliver truly great customer experience?”

“The fashion retailer says that 26.5% of group retail revenue was generated online in the six months to July 31. That’s up from 22.3% at the same time last year, and comes following a steady growth in the proportion of sales taking place on the internet in recent years.” Furthermore “at the same time, mobile and tablet sales accounted for 50% of eCommerce revenues – up from 47% last time.” The healthy numbers, in my view, can be attributed to the younger demographic of French Connection customers. Shopping habits from my research indicate that older users may browse on their mobile, but make the final purchase on their desktop - due to a physical keyboard and less chance (in their mind) for error. Great to see how this will change over time as technology improves.

As autumn rolls in and winter training comes into view, I’m looking to next years cycling activities. This one looks good - the recently opened North Coast 500. It offers “more than 500 miles of the best the North Highlands has to offer. The route way runs to and from Inverness, venturing round the capital of the Highlands, up the West Coast and back via the rugged north coast.” With my new bike frame coming next week, this is whetting my appetite for adventure!

Easily the best blog in design by far. Marvel’s recent post looks at the inherent bias of a user experience designer who can’t genuinely experience the different abilities of users. Makes for a good read. “If you woke up tomorrow without knowing what your life would be like – and you needed to build a new internet for everyone. What would you think about? What would your priorities be? What problems would you try to solve?”